Editor’s note: The telecommunications sector continues to evolve rapidly, driven by advancements in 5G, the emergence of 5G Advanced, the growing adoption of Open RAN and the integration of AI into network operations. Given the high volume of industry developments, RCR news brief highlights some of the key announcements shaping the future of global connectivity, infrastructure and innovation.
StarHub, Nokia, Dell Technologies complete Southeast Asia’s first 5G cloud RAN trial
Singaporean telecommunications company StarHub said it has successfully trialed Southeast Asia’s first 5G Cloud Radio Access Network (RAN) in collaboration with Nokia and Dell Technologies.
Nokia said that the cloud-based platform will enable StarHub to deliver new services to its enterprise customers and build an evolution path to advanced 5G and 6G technologies.
With Cloud RAN, StarHub can support use cases such as time-of-day services, ultra low-latency applications and services requiring dynamic throughput adaptations.
As part of the trial, the firm’s commercial 5G Cloud RAN solution was used to place a carrier-grade call, demonstrating feature consistency with the existing purpose-built RAN.
Hong Kong seeks to re-assign mid-band spectrum
Hong Kong’s Communications Authority (CA) announced its decision to re-assign 50 megahertz of spectrum in the 2.5/2.6 GHz band by way of auction for the provision of public mobile services upon the expiry of its existing assignments.
CA noted that the existing assignments of the relevant spectrum are due to expire in May 2028.
“Spectrum in the 2.5/2.6 GHz band belongs to the mid-band spectrum within the 1-7 GHz range, which provides longer range propagation than the high-band spectrum above 7 GHz, and wider bandwidth than the low-band spectrum below 1 GHz, thereby meeting both network coverage and capacity demands. It possesses the potential to support mobile broadband services and other innovative applications adopting fourth generation, fifth generation mobile services or beyond,” a spokesman for the CA said.
The Government of Hong Kong said it needs to make necessary amendments to the relevant subsidiary legislation to provide legal basis for the re-assignment arrangements.
Samsung Electronics, KT collaborate on 6G research
Samsung Electronics and Korean telco KT Corporation (KT), recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly research and develop next-generation communication technologies aimed at improving 6G signal quality. As part of this collaboration, the two companies will advance multi-antenna technologies to expand coverage across potential 6G frequency bands and explore AI integration in wireless communication to improve network stability and performance.
Samsung and KT noted they have begun research into eXtreme multiple-input multiple-output1 (X-MIMO) — an ultra-high-density antenna technology designed to enhance 6G coverage and increase data transmission speeds.
The companies will research beamforming technology, which transmits focused signals in specific directions, and multi-spatial transmission technology, which uses multiple beams to deliver data to several users simultaneously.
Both companies plan to explore the convergence of telecommunications and AI to deliver an improved user experience, particularly in edge coverage areas.
IDC predicts AI solutions and services to reach $22.3 trillion by 2030
Investments in AI solutions and services are projected to yield a global cumulative impact of $22.3 trillion by 2030, representing approximately 3.7% of the global GDP.
According to IDC, every new dollar spent on AI solutions and services by adopters is expected to generate an additional $4.9 in the global economy.
According to IDC, large-scale investments in AI infrastructure are underway, including the Stargate project in the U.S., the EU InvestAI initiative, and France’s AI compute projects. These and other, similar initiatives to establish AI hubs and factories will foster innovation and competitiveness, IDC added.
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